The Park Medical Centers in Detroit burns to the ground Tuesday. A worker's ex-boyfriend shot her, then set fire to the building. / Kathleen Galligan/Detroit Free Press

Written by

Eric D. Lawrence and Megha Satyanarayana

Detroit Free Press Staff Writers

A Southfield woman believed to have been killed by her estranged ex-boyfriend on Tuesday before he set fire to the Detroit building where they worked died in a murder-suicide, according to the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office.

The bodies of Sharita Williams, 35, and Myron Williams, 55, were pulled from the burned wreckage of the Park Medical Centers office building at Grand River and Virginia Park on Detroit's west side on Tuesday night. The death of Myron Williams, who is not related to Sharita Williams, was ruled a suicide; Sharita Williams' death was ruled a homicide. She had been shot multiple times.

The murder-suicide in Detroit was one of several similar events this week in metro Detroit. Lucinda Bailey was stabbed to death in her Inkster home. Her husband was found dead in his burning truck. Lorian Joy Handy was shot multiple times at her home in White Lake Township. Her husband appears to have shot himself, as well.

Sharita Williams, a medical assistant, was trying to get out of her relationship and had taken out a personal protection order against Myron Williams, who was a maintenance worker. Law enforcement officials said they found her body on the first floor of the building; his body was found in the basement, where a gas can was recovered. In the court documents, Sharita Williams said Myron Williams had harassed her and told her to "kiss my kids good-bye."

The protection order, which was OK'd in Wayne County Circuit Court on April 3, also noted that Southfield police had been called out for a dispute between Sharita Williams and Myron Williams on March 26. The order said a report was taken but that Sharita Williams was not told she should sign a complaint to press charges against Myron Williams, nor was she given the option of talking to a prosecutor.

The order mentioned a conversation between the unnamed police officer and Myron Williams: "Officer spoke with respondent to try to resolve the situation. Respondent refused to return to location as officer requested."

It's unclear where the officer was trying to direct Myron Williams. A message seeking comment was left for a Southfield Police Department spokesman Wednesday.